The Absalon joined the NATO-led Ocean Shield couter-piracy mission off Somalia and the east coast of Africa in November.

The UN estimated earlier this month that there are currently about 3,500 Somali pirates attacking ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, Bloomberg reported.

It is estimated that piracy has cost governments and the shipping industry $6.9 billion last year. Attacks rose to a record high of 237 in 2011, with $160 million worth of ransoms paid for the release of 31 vessels, according to a One Earth Future Foundation report published this month.